


From Friends To Lovers

by heelnev



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, And I'm Right, First Kiss, Jealousy, Love Confessions, M/M, Valentine's Day, moose deserves better and cedric will be giving him Said Better, the google doc i wrote this in is literally titled "fuck my online work this is more important"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-28 15:32:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17790023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heelnev/pseuds/heelnev
Summary: On any other February 14th Cedric would’ve considered the heart-shaped box of chocolates from his mother that he’d found in his bedroom after school to be cute, but on that particular day it seemed pathetic. He would never admit that to her face, naturally, but it was all he could think about after he saw it sitting on his pillow (and as he worked his way through the whole box). While almost everyone else he knew was out on dates, or just going out period, he was sitting at home. Watching tacky romance movies. Eating chocolates.Thinking about how the one person he wanted to be out with at that moment was spending time with someone else.





	From Friends To Lovers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DunkMeToHell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DunkMeToHell/gifts).



> baby's first attempt at cedstafa, Happy Vawentine's Day

Cedric wouldn’t consider himself incredibly popular by any means, but it was a fact that quite a few people in his school liked him. He had a good personality, good looks, good enough selfies to land himself a solid number of followers on Instagram -- everything that a high school senior needed to be considered successful. He saw all the heart eyes that were commented on his posts, and the way some of the girls in the hallway looked at him for  _ just _ a little too long after he walked by.

And despite all of that, he was still fucking alone on Valentine’s Day.

On any other February 14th Cedric would’ve considered the heart-shaped box of chocolates from his mother that he’d found in his bedroom after school to be cute, but on that particular day it seemed pathetic. He would never admit that to her face, naturally, but it was all he could think about after he saw it sitting on his pillow (and as he worked his way through the whole box). While almost everyone else he knew was out on dates, or just going out  _ period _ , he was sitting at home. Watching tacky romance movies. Eating chocolates.

Thinking about how the one person he wanted to be out with at that moment was spending time with someone else.

He still remembered how excited Mustafa was when he first told him about this date. Cedric had no idea who this person was, but apparently they’d said all the right things, and Mustafa had agreed to go out to lunch with them after classes let out. He had no idea if they had any plans  _ after  _ that, but did that really matter? The fact still remained that Mustafa went out with them.

And that Cedric was too much of a damn coward to ask Mustafa out before anyone else could.

Coming to terms with the fact that he had a crush on his best friend had been a bit of a difficult process for Cedric. He’d gone through all the typical phases that people in his situation typically went through -- the denial, the panic, the worries about ruining a friendship -- but once he’d finally admitted his feelings for Mustafa to himself he felt as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He no longer felt any kind of fear when they were hanging out together, laughing as they always did, and when the thought of how cute Mustafa looked when he smiled just so happened to cross Cedric’s mind.

...but that didn’t mean he was confident enough to actually confess to him in time for Valentine’s Day.

And now, because of his own lack of bravery, there Cedric was. On the couch in his living room, just about done with his box of chocolates, groaning to himself as yet another romcom started playing (and as he realized that the remote wasn’t immediately within arm’s reach -- he wasn’t nearly motivated enough to actually get up and grab it). Had he actually gone through with his little plan of asking Mustafa out, he wouldn’t be in such an undesirable position.

The main thing that sucked was that he told himself not to be bitter and to instead be happy for his friend, and he definitely  _ was _ . He prioritized Mustafa’s happiness over his own, and seeing him ramble excitedly about the day he had planned made  _ Cedric _ happy. He wanted Mustafa to have fun, regardless of whether he was with him or someone else entirely.

Did all of this mean that Cedric wasn’t  _ jealous _ , however? Absolutely not. He most definitely was, and he felt like a complete ass about that fact. He never considered himself to be the jealous type, even with past crushes, but for some reason it was different this time around. He wanted so badly for Mustafa to be happy, yet he also couldn’t stand that  _ he _ wasn’t the one making him so happy -- and that just made him feel like utter shit.

The only thing shittier than how he felt was the plot of the movie he was forced to watch due to his own laziness. Finally willing himself to stop wallowing in his own self-pity, he stretched over to where the remote lay on the opposite side of the couch and shut the godforsaken film off. The silence that came about as a result was slightly uncomfortable, but it was better than whatever the hell the protagonist’s love interest was trying to say.

What should he do now? As he looked out of the window, he saw that it was starting to snow. That’s right, they  _ did _ call for a few inches of snow, didn’t they? How fittingly romantic. He was sure that all those happy couples out there were at home, snuggled up under a blanket, maybe even sitting by a fireplace as they enjoyed each other’s company on such a special day.

...And it was perfectly reasonable to assume that that was what Mustafa might be doing with his date.

Cedric’s immediate response to such a thought was grabbing the nearest throw pillow and placing it over his face, grumbling a few swear words into it. What the hell was wrong with him? Why was he  _ still _ thinking about this date? Something that made him so upset? If it made him sad, then by all means he should not have thought about it -- yet that was exactly what he did, and if he kept going down this path he was sure to do it plenty more times before the day was over.  _ Maybe I should’ve kept that stupid movie on _ . At least then he’d be more focused on how bad it was than his best friend possibly falling for someone that wasn’t him.

Cedric was back to square one, and he once more asked himself what he was going to do now. He truly wasn’t in the mood to go outside in this weather, especially since it was supposed to get worse, so whatever he did would have to be inside. He could always turn the TV back on and find a different show, but what were the odds of finding something that  _ wouldn’t _ remind him of how alone he was? February 15th truly could not come quick enough--

**_Ding!~_ **

He moved the pillow away at the sound of his phone going off. His first thought that was it was probably his mother, letting him know that she might be coming home late that night.  _ More time to spend by myself, I guess _ , He thought, reaching into the pocket of his sweatpants and reading the notification on his lockscreen.

 

**Moose** : what’re you up to??

 

Mustafa? He felt his heart rate go up just a bit. What could he want, now of all times? Wasn’t he supposed to be on a date? Curious, he typed out a reply.

 

**Me** : Not much, hbu??

**Moose** : well i’m currently standing out in the snow freezing my ass off

**Moose** : which isn’t very fun at all

 

Cedric recalled that Mustafa typically had to take the bus home after school -- he was probably waiting at the stop. Was his date still with him?

 

**Me** : :(

**Me** : how’s your date going???

 

Cedric saw that Mustafa opened and read this message, but the response didn’t come right away. Was it an odd question to ask? Maybe his date looked over his shoulder and saw how nosy Mustafa’s friend was being? (Then again, that would technically make the date just as nosy.)

 

**Moose** : yeah, about that...

**Moose** : you’re at your house, right??

**Me** : i am indeed

**Moose** : sweet! so am i

 

_ What. _

Cedric re-read that message a few times. Mustafa was at his  _ house _ ? Just standing outside of it? Surely he was joking, wasn’t he? He had to be.

He quickly got to his feet, walking over to the front door and looking through the peephole out to the front porch. Sure enough, there was Mustafa, phone in one hand while the other was shoved into his coat pocket. There were a few snow flurries on his beanie, more and more landing with each passing second. Now Cedric was concerned -- what reason did he have to be  _ there _ and not out on his date? Did something happen?

Cedric unlocked the front door and opened it, brow furrowed. Mustafa greeted him with his usual smile, though there was something different about the look in his eyes. He looked… a little sad? Cedric couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was. “Heya, Ceddy!” He said. “Hope you don’t mind me, uh, just droppin’ on on ya like this.”

“No, not at all,” Cedric replied, now leaning up against the doorframe with his arms crossed. “But I  _ do _ gotta ask why you’re here all of a sudden. I thought you were supposed to be on a date?”

“Well,  _ yeah _ , but…” Mustafa avoided Cedric’s gaze, instead looking down to his feet.

“What?”

“It’s a bit of a long story -- ah, can I come in before I explain? I’m still freezing my ass off.”

“Oh, yeah! Of course you can.” Cedric stepped aside, motioning for Mustafa to enter. “Shoulda said somethin’ sooner.”

Mustafa wiped his feet quickly on the doormat and walked inside, taking off his hat and shaking any snowflakes out from his hair. Cedric had to resist the urge to wipe them away for him. “Geez, this weather kinda caught me off guard.”

“Don’t you check it before leaving the house?”

“You think I’m in any condition first thing in the morning to check what the weather’s gonna be like  _ beyond _ how it is when I first leave the house? Honestly, Ceddy…” Mustafa pursed his lips at him as he removed his coat, but he laughed.

“You… are a  _ lot _ to handle, you know that?” Cedric shook his head, fond smile on his face.

“I know, but you love it.”

“Perhaps.”

Cedric took Mustafa’s coat from him and hung it on a wall hook before leading him over to the couch. “Damn, this candy didn’t stand a chance,” Mustafa noted when he saw the empty heart-shaped box sitting on the coffee table.

“Hey, I was hungry!”

“I can see that. We should go out tomorrow, get some more since they’ll be on sale.”

“You read my mind.”

“As I tend to do sometimes.”

After sitting down, Cedric continued, “So… What’s this about your date?”

“Right, that…” Mustafa sat next to him, rubbing his hands together. “See, well... we just decided to wrap it up early.”

“What for?”

“We... wanted to get home before it got too late, y’know?  Don’t want anyone worrying about us being out after dark.”

“It’s…” Cedric checked the time on his phone. “It’s only four. It’s not that late at all.”

“Don’t you think it is, though? I mean, some folks are gonna be sitting down for dinner soon! Not like that happens in the middle of the day, right? Only happened later in the evening! And plus, it gets dark out earlier since it’s still February.”

Cedric blinked at him. He and Mustafa have hung out after dark  _ multiple _ times throughout the course of their friendship, and never once was it an issue so long as they let their respective families know where they were. Now, because Mustafa was on this date, it was a problem? Quite a few things about this story didn’t appear right.

“Okay…” Cedric began, slowly. “So you wanted to be home before dark.”

“I did. Oh, and before the snow, too! Wouldn’t wanna get stuck in it while trying to get home. That wouldn’t be fun at  _ all _ .”

“So if that’s the case, why did you come  _ here _ and not go straight to your house? Matter of fact, isn’t your house in the exact  _ opposite _ direction from here?”

Mustafa’s eyes widened slightly. “...Uh…” He averted his gaze. “That, it is...”

“So why--”

“I-I just wanted to stop by and say hey!” Mustafa interrupted, now looking back to Cedric again. “We haven’t spoken in what feels like ages.”

“I saw you this morning, it’s only been a few hours at most--”

“ _ Ages _ ,” Mustafa emphasized. “And I wanted to say hi after so long of saying nothing at all. Hi!!” He gave a wave, smiling big.

Once more, Cedric said nothing as he processed what Mustafa had just told him. Part of him wanted to laugh at how obvious Mustafa’s lie was, but the other part of him was worried. What the hell had happened on that date that caused it to be ended so early? Why was Mustafa being so damn  _ shifty _ ? Something was definitely wrong, and it was perturbing that Mustafa felt like he couldn’t be upfront about it with his closest friend.  _ How bad  _ **_was_ ** _ it? _

“What exactly  _ happened _ on this date of yours?” He finally asked. “Like, what’d you guys do?”

“What’d we do?” Mustafa echoed. “Well, we… we went out to eat, as planned. Had a nice time together. Chatted for a bit, y’know, about this and that. Typical date stuff.”

“What else?”

“And… And we, um… went for a walk, before the snow started,” he continued. “And talked some more about… things…” Mustafa trailed off then, brows scrunched together, frown on his face. It looked like he was stumped -- like he couldn’t think of any other details to add to his little story. Cedric figured that this was as good a moment as any to speak up.

“Mustafa…” He put a hand on Mustafa’s arm, prompting him to look down at it. “Is everything… okay?”

“‘Okay’?” Mustafa repeated. “Everything’s fine! Couldn’t be better. What makes you think there’s something wrong?”

“Because you’re never this… what’s the word…” Cedric snapped his fingers a few times as he thought. “...Odd.”

“What about me has been odd?”

“You spent  _ days _ going on about how excited you were for this date. Like, I figured you guys were gonna hang out all night with the way you were talking! But… you’re not. You’re sitting on  _ my _ couch after randomly deciding to end things early with them, and you’re not even really being upfront about what you  _ did _ together. Just giving me basic details.”

“What’s so bad about that?”

“It’s not bad, it’s just that I  _ know _ you -- I know you’re the kinda person who gives every little detail about literally  _ everything _ that you do.” Cedric could recall multiple instances where Mustafa would tell him every last detail about the most trivial things that happened to him. “You love telling a good story. Why the secrecy all of a sudden?”

Mustafa opened his mouth to speak, but he shut it quickly, chewing his lower lip. Then, he said, “I don’t owe you  _ every _ detail.”

“No, you don’t, but you  _ do _ owe me an explanation for why you decided to show up at my house, at the very least. Don’t try to tell me you actually thought the ‘I just wanted to say hi’ excuse was good…”

“It’s not an excuse! I genuinely wanted to.”

“Keep saying that as much as you’d like, but I’m not buying it.”

The wind was now howling outside, and both of them turned their attention to the window. The snow was  _ far _ heavier than anticipated -- Cedric was sure that the local weatherperson would be having a field day with this sudden turn of events. Mustafa, on the other hand, looked less than thrilled at the fact that he was now effectively trapped at Cedric’s house because of his own unusual behavior. He leaned back against the couch, staring straight ahead at his reflection in the television screen.

“Moose, listen…” Cedric started again. “Sorry for being so harsh, but… I don’t like anything that you’ve told me. You’re not being yourself at  _ all _ .”

Mustafa’s mouth formed into a line. Cedric couldn’t tell for sure, but it looked like he was almost on the verge of crying. He hoped it didn’t come to that. “Whatever it is that happened, I won’t laugh, or make fun of you,” he went on. “All I wanna know is why your date ended so early, and why you’re here. You can tell me anything, I won’t judge.”

“...I find that a little hard to believe,” Mustafa said, visibly swallowing.

“Have I ever judged you before for telling me something bad? I’m not about to start now. Not when it’s got you acting this out of character. I promise.”

Mustafa looked away from the screen and down towards his lap, licking his lips. For a moment, Cedric thought that he wasn’t going to say anything at all. He would have to think of another way to persuade him to talk.

But before he could do that, Mustafa finally spoke. “It…” He said. “It started off fine. I swear it did. That’s not a lie. We met up after classes ended, and we went to get food, and we had a legitimately good time talking to each other. At least, that’s what I thought…”

Another pause. “Then we… went for that walk I told you about. Talked some more. But then they…” He hesitated. “Then they… kinda… told me the truth about our date.”

“What was it?” Cedric had an inkling that he knew where this was going, but he hoped with everything he had that his suspicions were incorrect. Otherwise, things were about to get ugly.

“They said they…” He cleared his throat. “He said that nothing that seemed to have happened between us was actually, like,  _ real _ . The whole reason why they’d even asked me out was because… w-well, because one of their friends dared them to.”

“For fuck’s  _ sake _ !” Cedric groaned. He was right -- because heaven forbid he be wrong for once. “What did you say to that?”

“I thought maybe they were just kidding around. Y’know, since we’d been having so much fun together! I thought it was just a joke. Well, uh…” He laughed, self-derisively. “Turns out  _ I  _ was the joke. And when I thought they were texting a relative or something, they were just texting their friends about the dumb shit I was saying.”

“Give me names. Right now. And addresses.”

“Cedric--”

“What the hell gives them the right to treat you like that?!” He stood up, beginning to pace back and forth across the room. “Anyone who asks someone out as a joke, or for a dare -- on any day this is bad, but anyone who pulls a dirty trick like this on  _ Valentine’s Day _ of all days is a real piece of shit.”

“I mean…” Mustafa shrugged. “I feel like it was more my fault than theirs.”

“What?! How?!”

“Because I should’ve seen it coming! Like… they’re so much more popular than I am. Only link I have to any semblance of popularity is you -- I was the easy target. Didn’t even  _ think _ that there could be something funny going on. It’s my own fault for being so gullible.

Cedric couldn’t believe what he was hearing. There was someone out there that was lucky enough to get to go out with Mustafa, someone who had the fucking  _ confidence _ to ask someone like him out -- confidence that Cedric envied -- and they had the audacity to treat him like this? Not only that, but they’d treated him  _ so _ poorly to the point where Mustafa was blaming  _ himself _ and not the mastermind behind such a bullshit scheme?!

“You…” Cedric took in a deep breath through his nose, slowly letting it out. “You… are not at all at fault for this. Don’t say that you are.”

“But don’t you think I should’ve known?”

“All you did was say yes to a date after being asked. You didn’t do anything that was  _ wrong _ .”

“When you put it that way then you’re right, but…” He trailed off again. “I dunno. I still feel… dumb.”

“Dumb?! You-- You’re fucking  _ amazing _ !” Cedric went on. “Anyone would be lucky to go out with you. It’s  _ their _ loss.”

“I—”

“Everything about you is great — you’re literally one of the best people I know! You’re funny, you’re kind, you’re smart, you’re good looking -- Jesus, you’re everything that a partner, shit, that  _ I _ could ever  _ want _ !”

Mustafa’s eyes went wide, his mouth falling open. For a moment, Cedric thought it was because of his sudden outburst. It wasn’t like he could blame him, seeing as  _ anyone _ would be caught off guard by such a reaction. It was typical.

But then Cedric realized what he’d said. Right at the end of his little rant. A literal admission that Mustafa was everything that Cedric wanted.

_ Oh no. _

_ Oh  _ **_no_ ** _. _

“...Ced?” Mustafa’s voice was small, expression still that of shock.

“U-Uh…” Cedric felt himself start to panic. After all that time spent worrying about how to come out and tell Mustafa how he felt, he ended up blurting it out without even thinking — and he might have freaked Mustafa out in the process. Everything that could’ve gone wrong in this situation  _ is _ going wrong. “I— I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Then, how…?”

“Just, y'know… speaking hypothetically. It just so happens that I want my… my future lover to be exactly like you!” For all the things he said about Mustafa being a poor liar, Cedric was in no better shape.

And just as Cedric had done before, Mustafa didn’t appear at all convinced. “Like…” Cedric continued to try and explain himself. “Like, whoever this future lover of mine  _ is _ , I want them to be as good of a person as you are. Not that I actually want that lover to  _ be _ , you!” He chuckled, nervously.

At this, Mustafa actually looked a little down. “All this talking about wanting  _ me _ to be honest, and you can’t even do that yourself.”

Ow. Not like Cedric could fault Mustafa for pointing that out. Without saying another word, he slowly sat back down on the couch, folding his hands over his lap. The cat was out of the proverbial bag, and now he had to somehow clean up the mess he’d made. How was it possible that through his Mustafa Pep Talk, he actually made things  _ worse _ ?

“Don’t think that you have to feel the same way,” he said after a minute. “Like, I know this is a weird time to be bringing this stuff up, but it really just… slipped out. If you don’t feel the same or don’t wanna talk about this right now, then that’s fine. We can forget it ever happened, talk about something else.”

Mustafa wasn’t looking at Cedric and instead opted to watch the snowstorm. Cedric wasn’t able to see the look on his face, and as such had no way of telling how he was actually feeling. His heart pounded as all the potential thoughts Mustafa could be having ran through his head — things along the lines of “Maybe we shouldn’t be friends anymore.” That was the most terrifying one of all.

“Moose— Mustafa?” He asked. “Are you okay?”

Another minute of silence went by. “...Did you really mean that?” Mustafa at last replied. “About me being everything you wanted.”

“I… yeah, totally.” Cedric smiled softly. “I mean, you’ve been my best friend for so long. I have more fun hanging out with you than I do anyone else. My life would be boring as hell if I didn’t know you. You really mean a lot to me. And I especially meant what I said about you being smart, and funny, and all around just  _ amazing _ .”

“How long have you known you actually  _ like _ me, though? As in,  _ like _ like.”

“For a little while now, I’d say. I didn’t wanna say anything, ‘cuz I didn’t wanna freak you out. It legit slipped out.”

“If it was weighing on you so much, you should’ve said something sooner.”

“I couldn’t just say something like  _ that. _ Not when I have no way of knowing how  _ you  _ feel. I didn’t wanna risk losing you as a friend.”

Mustafa looked to Cedric again, licking his lower lip. He appeared… nervous. “I…” He began. “I’ll be honest, I never really gave much thought to whether I actually liked you like that or not. Never really occurred to me.”

“Do you think you might? And again, there’s no pressure. If you don’t, you don’t. Don’t sweat it.”

“Like I said, I never really thought about it. I think you’re awesome, and you’re a great friend, but I never really thought of you as anything more than that.”

Cedric felt his heart sink. Leave it to him to have his crush reject him on Valentine’s Day. He hoped his facial expression didn’t make it too obvious how sad he was.

But then, before he could even respond to that, Mustafa said one more thing. Hesitantly taking Cedric’s hand, he added, “But… I’m willing to give it a try, if  _ you _ are.”

Cedric raised his eyebrows. “Don’t feel obligated to—”

“I want to,” Mustafa stopped him. “I really do. I make you happy, and you make  _ me _ happy, so… It’s worth a shot, isn’t it? What’ve we got to lose?”

Cedric couldn’t remember the last time his emotions did such a 180, but he was  _ ecstatic _ that they did.

“O-Okay! Okay, that’s fine.” He let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Sure, let’s do that!”

Mustafa smiled, and Cedric mirrored his expression. “Uh…” He chuckled, giving Cedric’s hand a small squeeze. “So… what do we do now?”

“...That’s a good question.” Cedric laughed as well. “I didn’t think I’d ever get this far. Uh…” As he contemplated, his gaze fell upon Mustafa’s lips, and suddenly an idea popped into his mind.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?” Mustafa asked, apparently having noticed what he was doing.

“Can I… Can I kiss you, or…?”

“Oh, like you even need to  _ ask. _ ”

That was all Cedric needed to hear. Hoping that he didn’t seem too eager, he leaned in, capturing Mustafa’s lips in a sweet kiss. It was sloppy, and a little awkward (as first kisses tended to be), but he didn’t really give much of a shit. What was important to him was that they were even kissing in the first place, that Mustafa wasn’t creeped out by Cedric’s advances.

That despite everything that happened, they were both willing to make things work.

As they pulled away, they both couldn’t help but giggle, connecting their foreheads. The last few moments had been absolutely crazy — neither one of them could’ve anticipated that Mustafa’s poor date experience could have led to them being in a position like  _ this _ . Neither of them would ever complain, though.

“Maybe today isn’t so shitty after all,” Mustafa joked.

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“So… Alright, now what? Should we just keep kissing, or?”

“I’m not opposed to that,” Cedric shrugged with a smirk. “Or, we could watch TV?”

“Both…?”

“Both. You’re a damn genius.”

Cedric switched the TV back on, immediately being greeted with the same movie that he’d turned off earlier. “Shit, this is still going?!”

“Hey, I’ve seen this one! One of my faves.” Mustafa smiled. “It’s funny, keep it on.”

Silence. Slowly, Cedric breathed out through his nose. “...Can I take that kiss back?”


End file.
